The woman who revolutionized the field of microbiology

Did you know that the pioneer of agar in microbiology was a woman? On this International Women's Day, we remember the discovery of Fanny Angelina Hesse. 

Fanny was born in 1850 and married Walther Hesse, a German doctor, in 1874. Soon after their marriage, Walther began working in the laboratory of Robert Koch (later known as the father of microbiology and winner of the 1905 Nobel Prize in Medicine for identifying the bacillus that causes tuberculosis).

Fanny was interested in research and began to help her husband with his work, illustrating his projects. Her illustrations of bacterial colonies at different stages of growth showed the obvious knowledge of bacteriology and microscopy that she had acquired over the years.

Because of the times, Fanny had to combine this role of assistant within the role of housewife, so she was responsible for the household, including cooking.

One of Walther's first projects was to isolate microbes from the air. The culture medium used for this research was gelatin, but this caused major problems. The bacteria broke down the gelatin, and the heat eventually melted his experiments. 

When Walther told Fanny about his problems, she thought the solution might be in her kitchen. Fanny was born in New York and had neighbors who had lived in Java, Indonesia. They had taught her about an ingredient used in hot climates to set jellies and thicken broths. For years, Fanny had been using agar in her jams and other desserts. Knowing its properties, she thought this extract could solve Walther's culture media problems.

Walther tested the agar, discovered its benefits and immediately told Koch. He began using agar as a culture medium and in 1882 was able to show that tuberculosis was caused by a bacterium.

The use of agar instead of gelatin was a huge step forward for microbiology but when Koch published a paper on tuberculosis bacilli and mentioned his switch to agar from gelatin, he did not credit Fanny or Walther for their discovery.

Because of Fanny Angelina Hesse's intuitive knowledge, agar is still used today as a culture medium and has led to great discoveries that are important to everyone.

Thanks to Fanny and many other women scientists who paved the way, nowadays we celebrate Women's Day with many women leading research projects and receiving the credit they deserve.